annual report and accounts 2012 - RSPB
annual report and accounts 2012 - RSPB
annual report and accounts 2012 - RSPB
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<strong>RSPB</strong> trustees’ <strong>report</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>accounts</strong> 2011-12<br />
Trustees’ <strong>report</strong><br />
Acquisition of l<strong>and</strong> as nature reserves<br />
Objective Achievement Future challenges<br />
We will continue<br />
to seek new sites<br />
<strong>and</strong> extend<br />
existing ones to<br />
add to our nature<br />
reserve network.<br />
Extending<br />
existing sites is<br />
sensible for both<br />
ecological <strong>and</strong><br />
financial reasons.<br />
Our nature reserves managed for conservation are impressive: we<br />
care for a wonderful selection of superb sites for nature <strong>and</strong> for<br />
people. We added 1,392 hectares during the year, including two<br />
new reserves, at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex (342 hectares) <strong>and</strong><br />
Loch Lomond, West Dunbartonshire (228 hectares).<br />
We manage 143,780 hectares, at 211 nature reserves. In Engl<strong>and</strong>,<br />
we extended existing reserves at Snape, Suffolk; South Essex<br />
Marshes <strong>and</strong> Wallasea Isl<strong>and</strong>, Essex; Freiston Shore, Lincolnshire;<br />
Langstone Harbour, Hampshire; Dungeness, Harty Marshes <strong>and</strong><br />
Seasalter Levels, Kent <strong>and</strong> the Dee Estuary, Cheshire. In Scotl<strong>and</strong>,<br />
we added l<strong>and</strong> at Forsinard Flows, Highl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Crook of<br />
Baldoon, Dumfries & Galloway.<br />
We will continue to make<br />
existing, high priority<br />
nature reserves “complete”<br />
by adding to them; we will<br />
continue to refine our<br />
criteria for buying reserves,<br />
<strong>and</strong> will acquire new, high<br />
priority sites wherever we<br />
can.<br />
Conservation on <strong>RSPB</strong> nature reserves<br />
Populations of priority bird species on <strong>RSPB</strong> reserves<br />
Objective Achievement Future challenges<br />
We will continue<br />
our work to<br />
maintain or<br />
enhance the<br />
populations of<br />
priority bird<br />
species.<br />
There are 26 priority bird species on our nature reserves. We have<br />
accurate breeding population trends for 24 of them. Four made<br />
good progress towards <strong>2012</strong> “enhance” targets. We expect them to<br />
increase their populations on the area of <strong>RSPB</strong> reserves that<br />
existed in 2005, to reach the often ambitious targets that we set.<br />
Eleven species are expected to achieve targets to maintain stable<br />
populations. Seven species appear unlikely to achieve their<br />
“maintain” targets for a variety of reasons, some outside our<br />
control, such as the effects of recent severe winter weather. Two<br />
species have failed to colonise or re-colonise reserves as hoped.<br />
Just some of the successes on reserves in 2011 are:<br />
• Slavonian grebes increased, <strong>and</strong> had a productive<br />
breeding season, at Loch Ruthven, following three years<br />
of decline.<br />
• Bitterns continued to increase, despite the hard winter,<br />
with 37 booming males, compared with 34 in 2010.<br />
• Design tweaks to a predator-exclusion fence at Otmoor<br />
kept out foxes, <strong>and</strong> lapwing productivity was the highest<br />
ever recorded there.<br />
• Numbers of breeding stone-curlews continued to rise at<br />
Winterbourne Downs <strong>and</strong> on acid grassl<strong>and</strong> created at<br />
Minsmere. Since 2005, the number of breeding pairs of<br />
stone-curlews at these two sites has increased from two<br />
to thirteen.<br />
We must maintain or<br />
increase numbers of<br />
breeding lapwings <strong>and</strong><br />
redshanks, against a<br />
backdrop of catastrophic<br />
declines of both species in<br />
the countryside outside<br />
reserves. We need to<br />
maintain numbers, <strong>and</strong><br />
increase productivity, of<br />
little terns <strong>and</strong> will<br />
continue to face difficult<br />
challenges to benefit<br />
capercaillie at Abernethy.<br />
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